Machine for making cigarettes



Oct. 15, 1940. w. B. POHLE I MACHINE FOR MAKING CIGARETTES Original Filed July 23, 1931 llllLllLtIl 1770671607 Dhdh 6.9% MG? G Patented Oct. 15, 1940 UNITED STATES 2,218,071 MACHINE FOR MAKING OIGABETTES Walter B. Pohle, East Lynn, Mass, assignor, by

mesne assignments, to Tobacco Retention Corporation, a corporation of Massachusetts Original application July 23, 1931, Serial No.

552,663. Divided and this application December 3, 1937, Serial No. 177,938

23 Claims.

The present invention relates to the manufacture of cigarettes, and this application is a division of my copending application, Serial No. 552,663, filed July 23, 1931, which issued as Patent No. 2,190,107 on February 13, 1940, for Cigarette and method of making the same.

Cigarettes usually comprise a paper Wrapper and a tobacco filler. finely cut that it may be characterized as dust. This dust is drawn into the lungs through the throat and mouth during the act of smoking, and it is this dust that irritates the smokers membranes and causes coughing. The cigarette disclosed in my said pending application is of such character that the dust particles are retained in it during the act of smoking.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide means for mechanically practicing the methods disclosed in my said pending application and for mechanically producing the cigarette there disclosed.

To the accomplishment of this object, and such others as may appear hereinafter, the various features of the present invention relate to certain devices, combinations, and arrangements of parts hereinafter fully described and then set forth in the appended claims broadly and in detail, possessing advantages which will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

The various features of the present invention will be readily understood from an inspection of the accompanying drawing, illustrating the best form of the invention at present known to the inventor, in which Figure 1 is a detail view in front elevation showing the relationship between the rod forming, cigarette cutting-01f, and liquid injecting mechanisms;

Fig. 2 is a detail view in left side elevation of the liquid injecting mechanism;

Fig. 3 is a detail view in sectional elevation on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a view in perspective of the cigarette; and

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of the cigarette.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, the cigarette 6 comprises a tubular paper wrapper l and a filler 8 composed of finely cut tobacco. As well known to those skilled in this art, the tobacco is so finely cut that dust therefrom enters the throat and lungs with the smoke and irritates the delicate membranes thereof. It is generally conceded that it is this dust and not the smoke that causes coughing. Moreover, considerable annoyance is caused by small particles of tobacco dropping into the smokers mouth from the adjacent end of the cigarette.

In order to cake the tobacco at the mouth end Some of this tobacco is so of the cigarette and thus form a plug which prevents dust orother particles from entering the smokers mouth, I treat the tobacco at the mouth end of the cigarette with a gummy and waterproof or water resistant liquid. Preferably,

though not necessarily, the liquid employed is collodion, i. e., a solution of gun-cotton, thinned by the addition of ether. As stated in my said pending application, the cigarette may be upended and the collodion inserted into the tobacco at the mouth'end of the cigarette with a medicine every other fibre it touches thus forming, when the collodion dries, a permanent and porous cake 9 plugging the mouth end of the cigarette. The ether thinner being volatile, quickly evaporates. The interstices of the tobacco cake are open for the passage of smoke, but all the fibres in the cake, including small particles of tobacco and dust thereof, are bound together into an integer. The cake 9 also acts as a filter to prevent the passage therethrough of dust from the loose tobacco with the smoke therefrom. Thus the cake 9 prevents any loose tobacco from entering the smokers mouth.

In order to economize in the cost of making the cigarette t, I propose to inject the caking solution mechanically into the mouth end of the cigarette during its manufacture. As is well known to those skilled in this art, cigarettes are commonly cut, one at a time, by a cutting-off mechanism It (Fig. 1) froma-rod H which comprises filler and wrapper material and which is progressively formed by a rod forming mechanism l2 which causes the rod to advance in the direction of its length. The liquid to be injected into the filler material at the'freeend of the rod H is conducted through a pipe 13, provided with a shut-01f valve 14, to a tank l5 carried by a bracket l6 forming part of the cigarette making machine. Normally, the tank 15 is closed by a cover l1, there being a gasket I8 interposed between the top of the tank l5 and the cover IT. The liquid flows out of the tank 15 through an opening 19 formed in the bottom thereof to a flexible conduit 20 connected at its lower end to a hollow needle 2!. Normally, the opening I9 is closed by a valve 22 formed on the lower end of 'a stem 23 received in a blind chamber 24 depending from the inside of the cover i'l. Interposed between the end of the chamber 24 and the upper end of the stem 23 is a coiled spring 25.

The needle 24 is clamped to the split bottom is provided also with an arm 29 having a roll 30 engaged with a .cam path 3| formed in one face of a cam 32 secured to a stub shaft 33 rotatably mounted in the bracket iii. The shaft 33 is driven in timed relation to the cigarette cuttingoff and rod forming mechanisms it] and i2, respectively, by a chain E i passed around a sprocket 35 on the shaft 33.

With this construction, the needle 2! is oscillated from the position shown in Fig. 1 in which it is spaced from the rod H to a position Where it engages the filler material at the free end of the rod issuing from the rod forming mechanism l2. As soon as this point of engagement is reached, the needle H is oscillated back to its Fig. 1 position, and since the shaft 33 is driven in timed relation to the cigarette cutting-of. and rod forming mechanisms, the needle 2! continues to engage the free end of the rod H as it further issues from the rod forming mechanism. During this backward movement of the needle 2! in engagement with the free end of the moving rod l l, the valve 22 is withdrawn from the opening 19 momentarily and is then released to allow the compressed spring 25 to drive the valve 22 downwardly and thus force a quantity of liquid through the conduit 20 and the hollow needle 2! into the free end of the rod H. When the rod has issued its intended extent from the rod forming mechanism i2, as shown in Fig. l, the cutting-off mechanism ill severs the cigarette from the rod and the needle 2i is in position to again be oscillated forward in timed relation to the operation of the rod forming mechanism. As stated above, the liquid penetrates the tobacco fibres in the free end of the rod under the physical power of imbibition, forming when dry the porous plug shown in Fig. 5.

To effect the operation of the valve 22, the stem 23 is provided with a lateral pin 38 which is embraced by a slot formed in one end of a lever 33 pivoted at 39 from the tank iii. The other end of the lever 38 is engaged by a cam ill secured to a rock-shaft l! journaled on the tank i5. One end of the rock-shaft 45 is provided with an arm 42 having a roll i3 thereon arranged to ride on the periphery of the cam 32. The cam 32 is provided with a rise M- which engages the roll 43 during the rotation of the cam 32 and operates, through the connection described, the valve 22. It will be understood that when the valve 22 is closed there is no fiow of liquid from the nozzle 2! and hence no leakage. This lack of flow is occasioned by the fact that the closed valve 22 acts as a seal for the opening l9, thereby, in accordance with a well known physical phenomenon, causing any liquid in the conduit 26 to be maintained therein by the pressure of the atmosphere.

Nothing herein explained is to be interpreted as limiting the present invention in the scope of its application to use in connection with the particular apparatus or the particular mode of operation or both selected for the purpose of illustration and explanation. It will be seen that it is entirely within the skill of an artisan understanding the principles of the present invention to vary the length of the surface of the rise M, thereby varying the time during which the valve 22 is open and hence varying the amount of liquid supplied from the needle 2! to the rod Ii. By varying the cam path 3|, for example, the length of stroke of the needle 2! may also be varied, thereby causing the needle never to quite touch the free end of the issuing rod but being juxtaposed thereto so that liquid 'in the needle passes to the rod as though the needle actually engaged the rod during liquid transfer. A similar result may be achieved by varying the length of the needle itself, as this would vary the length of stroke as compared to that of the particular needle shown in the drawing. A different positioning of the cam rise i l will change the time at which the issuing rod receives liquid from the needle 2 i, for such positioning will vary the time at which the valve 22 is opened. While the particulars of construction herein set forth are well suited to one mechanical form of the invention, the invention is not limited to these details of construction nor to the conjoint use of all features shown, nor is it to be understood that these particulars are essential since they may be modified as indicated above and otherwise modified, and another liquid may be substituted for the collodion mentioned, within the skill of the artisan without departing from the true scope of the actual invention, characterizing features of which are set forth in the following claims by the intentional use of generic terms and expressions inclusive of various modifications.

What is claimed as new is:

1. In a machine for making cigarettes, the combination with mechanism for forming a rod from which cigarettes are to be formed, said rod having wrapper and filler material, of means operative during the operation of the rod forming a mechanism to apply liquid wholly internally of the wrapper to the filler while said wrapper and filler are integral parts of said rod.

2. In a machine for making cigarettes, the combination with mechanism for forming a rod from which cigarettes are to be formed, said rod having wrapper and filler material, of means operative during the operation of the rod forming mechanism to inject liquid into the filler while said wrapper and filler are integral parts of said rod.

3. In a machine for making cigarettes, the combination with mechanism for forming a rod from which cigarettes are to be formed, said rod having Wrapper and filler material, of means engageable with the rod during the operation of the rod forming mechanism to apply liquid wholly internally of the wrapper to the filler while said wrapper and filler are integral parts of said rod.

4. In a machine for making cigarettes, the com- I bination with mechanism for forming a rod from which cigarettes. are to be formed, said rod having wrapper and filler material and said forming mechanism being of the type in which the rod is progressively advanced as it is being formed, of

means operative to apply liquid to the filler during the advance of the rod in said forming mechanism.

5. In a machine for making cigarettes, the combination with mechanism for forming a rod having wrapper and filler material, said forming mechanism being of the type in which the rod is progressively advanced as it is being formed, of means movable in the direction of advance of the rod to apply liquid to the filler during said advance.

6. In a machine for making cigarettes, the combination with mechanism for forming a rod having wrapper and filler material, said mechanism being of the type in which the rod is progressively advanced as it is being formed, of means movable in the direction of advance of the rod and engageable therewith during said advance to apply liquid to the filler.

'7. In a machine for making cigarettes, the combination with mechanism for forming a rod having wrapper and filler material, said forming mechanism being of the type in which the rod is progressively advanced as it is being formed, of oscillating means operating during a portion of its oscillation to apply liquid to the filler during said advance.

8. In a machine for making cigarettes, the combination with rod forming and cigarette cutting-off mechanisms, of means operative during the operation of the rod forming mechanism and prior to the operation of the cigarette cutting-01f mechanism to apply liquid to the filler.

9. In a machine for making cigarettes, the combination with rod forming and cigarette cutting-off mechanisms, of oscillating means operative, during a portion of its oscillation, to apply liquid to the filler during the operation of the rod forming mechanism and prior to the operation of the cigarette cutting-off mechanism.

10. In a machine for making cigarettes, the I combination with a sourceof supply of liquid, mechanism for forming'a rod having wrapper and filler material, and means adapted to apply liquid to the filler during the formation of the rod, of means for intermittently providing the applying means with liquid from the source of supply.

11. In a machine for making cigarettes, the combination with a source of supply of liquid, mechanism for forming a rod having wrapper and filler material, and means adapted to engage the rod during its formation to apply liquid to the filler, of means operative in timed relation to the engagement of the rod by the applying means for providing the applying means with liquid from the source of supply.

12. In a machine for making cigarettes, the combination with a source of supply of liquid, mechanism for forming a rod having wrapper and filler material, said forming mechanism being of the type in which the rod is progressively advanced as it is being formed, and means adapted to apply liquid to the filler during the advance of'the rod, of means for intermittently providing the applying means with liquid from the source of supply.

13. In a machine for making cigarettes, the combination with a source of supply of liquid, mechanism for forming a rod having wrapper and filler material, said forming mechanism being of the type in which the rod is progressively advanced as it is being formed, and means adapted to engage the rod during its advance toapply liquid to the filler, of means operative in timed relation to the engagement of the rod by the applying means to provide the applying means with liquid from the source of supply.

14. In a machine for making cigarettes, the combination with rod forming and cigarette cutting-off mechanisms, a source of supply of liquid, and means operative during the operation of the rod forming mechanism and prior to the operation of the cigarette cutting-ofi mechanism to apply liquid to the filler, of means for intermittently providing the applying means with liquid fromthe source of supply.

15. In a machine for making cigarettes, the combination with rod forming and cigarette cutting-off mechanisms, a source of liquid supply,- and means adapted to apply liquid to the filler during the operation of the rod forming mechanism and prior to the operation of the cigarette cutting-off mechanism, of pressure means for intermittently providing the applying means with liquid from the source of supply.

16. In a machineffor making cigarettes, the combination with rod forming and cigarette cutting-off mechanisms, a source of supply of liquid, and means adapted to engage the rod during its formation and prior to the operation of the cutting-ofi mechanism to apply liquid to the filler, of means for intermittently providing the applying means with liquid from the source of supply.

17. In a machine for making cigarettes, the combination with rod forming and cigarette cutting-off mechanisms, a'source of supply of liquid, and means adapted to engage the rod during its formation and prior to the operation of the cut-v of means operative in timed relation to; the engagement of the rod by the applying means to provide the applying means withliquid from the source of supply,

18. In a machine for making cigarettes, the combination with mechanism for forming a rod of supply of liquid, movable means adapted to apply liquid to the filler'during the operation of the rod forming mechanism, and means for moving said movable means to efiect said applying, of means operatively connected to said movable means to provide the applying means ting-ofi mechanism to apply liquid to the filler, 20

' having wrapper and filler material, a source moving said movable means to effect said applying, of means operative in timed relation to said moving means to provide the applying operation of the rod forming mechanism for,

opening the valve to provide the applying means with liquid.

21. In a machine for making cigarettes, the combination'with mechanism for forming a rod having wrapper and filler material, of means, operative while the rod is at least partially located in said forming mechanism for applying liquid.

to the filler.

22. In a machine for making cigarettes, the

combination with mechanism for forming a rod having wrapper and filler material, of means operative while the rod is atleast partially located in said 'forming mechanism for injecting liquid into the filler.

23. In a machine for making cigarettes, the combination with mechanism'for forming a rod having wrapper and filler material, of means en- .ga'geable with the rod while it is at least partially located in said forming mechanism for applying liquid to the filler. i

' WALTER B. POHLE.

to j 

